The Way of Dovahkiin
by VitaeVixxen9696
Summary: The journey follows two sisters, as their world is turned upside-down when they are captured by Imperials and thrown into a middle of a civil war. Things get more complicated and confusing as ancient beings, straight from the legends, mysteriously appear from the dead.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I

The sound of the horses hooves beating the ground pulled the dazed Karin from her unconcious state. Disoriented, it took her a few moments to get a hold of herself and her surroundings.

She was sitting upright in the back of a carriage, along with five others, being pulled along by a couple horses. She noticed multiple carriages following the same path down a slope. Despite the sun beating down, the air was cool, hinting it was getting late in the afternoon.

Karin couldn't recall getting in the carriage or the events before. The only thing that she could remember was trying to cross over the border with her sister, Elsie.

Elsie! She spun her head around, her long blonde hair whipping around in the wind. She tried to reach up to see above the wooden sides of the cart, but at that point she noticed that her wrists where bound together with rough looking rope.

What was going on? How did she get here and where was her sister? She needed to get out of here, but she knew she wouldn't get far with her hands bound and no weapons.

"Stop fidgeting around." The man across from Karin grumbled. His faced was creased in a frown and his eyes filled with annoyance. He was drapped in furs of all kind, and under that, what looked like some type of uniform. Was this brute a soldier?

"S-sorry... I'm just-" She tried to explain, but she was cut off mid-sentence by the man to her right.

"Don't be foul, Gunmund. Does she look like she's trying to cause trouble?" She looked over at her defender and was surprised to see a soft gaze of another nord. His eyes were the color of the hazy sky after a storm.

"Forgive me, Sebastian." Gunmund growled, scratching his bearded chin. "Next time we get captured, I'll make sure to be pleasant to any nuisances that we come across."

Karin stared at each of them, a puzzled look in her eyes. "Captured... I-I don't understand. Who captured us?"

"Shut up back there!" A voice came from the head of the carriage. It must've been the driver.

"Imperials..." Sebastian whispered, leaning forward. "They had set an ambush for us. I don't know how, but they knew exactly when and where we were going to be..." He looked lost in thought as he shared his suspicions with the rest of the group.

"You tried to cross the border." Gunmunds gruff voice cut in. Karin glanced at him and Sebastian sat up. Gunmund stared at her, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Why...? And who were you with?" She didn't necessarily trust these men, but there was no point in avoiding the truth.

"Elsie. My younger sister. We... We were trying to-" But she stopped when voices came from ahead. All three of them spun their heads around. The carriages were approaching what looked to be the walls of a town.

"Helgen." Sebastain murmured. "This is Helgen." Karin looked up at him, fumbling with her binds.

"Helgen?" He nodded, glancing at her. "You obviously haven't been around these parts much, have you?" Shaking her head, Karin looked at the thick wooden walls.

It was true. Karin and Elsie were born in an old shack under Riften, next to the sewer system. They didn't have much money, so the two sisters had to work for their food and bed.

During the day, Karin worked in the stables, cleaning out the stalls and taking care of the horses. She couldn't make enough money just doing that, so she decided to take a job sweeping the floors at the Bee and the Bard, an inn in Riften.

Elsie, however, had a knack for dealing with things that made most girls shriek. Sometimes she helped out in the Temple of Mara, healing the sick or wounded, but mostly just stayed in the Hall of the Dead, where she acted as apprentice to the caretaker. She got paid a pretty good sum of money, comepared to what they had, since it was a job that most wouldn't dare to take.

After they raised enough money, they paid for a carriage to take them to Falkwreath. They had gotten into some... trouble there, so they decided to take their chances in Cyrodiil, and booked it out, trying to escape across the border, but their bad luck caught up to them, and they ran into an ambush along with a Stormcloak patrol.

It was all coming back to her. The soldiers. Elsie getting tied up and shoved in another cart. Her struggle. And then finally, the guard hitting her on the back of the head. And now she was here, her arms bound, in the back of a carriage, going to face her death. Perfect.

The horses pulled them into Helgen and through the town. Karin could feel the people watching them as they came to a stop. Sebastian gazed at the sky.

"This is it... End of the line."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Karin gasped as a sharp tug yanked her from the back of the carriage. A guard pulled her to her feet and reached for the other prisoners.

"Come on. Line up single file." A man barked, gazing down at a scroll he was holding. A woman clad in armor stood next to him, eyeing the crowd with narrowed eyes. "Step forward when your name is called."

But Karin wasn't listening at that point. She searched the group next to her for Elsie's familiar pale hair. She should've been relatively easy to find, since she was so short compared to the bulky Stormcloak soldiers, but it was just the opposite. She was concealed by all the people, and Karin was unable to see if her sister was okay.

Shouts brough Karin back into reality and she snapped her head up. A man was stumbling away from the rest of the group. He was trying to get away as fast as he could, but Karin knew that he wasn't going to make it in time.

"Archers!" The woman in armor yelled, pointing to the man. And that was the end of it. He lay in the dust, two arrows embedded into his back.

"Sebastian Havard." The guard with the scroll growled. There was movement behind Karin as a figure brushed past her. Sebastian glanced back at her smiling. How could he be so calm!? But for some reason, that smile comforted her.

Sebastian moved away to the others, and Karin stepped forward. The man peered over his scroll and eyed her, curiously. "Captain, she's not on the list. What do we do?"

"Neither is this one." Another guard pulled a young girl out of the group to the left. Karin's heart leaped when she saw who it was.

"Elsie!" She called and the girl looked up, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Karin." Stumbling over, Elsie fell into Karin, burying her face into her chest. The Captain watched in silence, but then waved them away.

"To the block, with the others." The man nodded and two guards walked over and grabbed the two sisters, hauling them over where the prisoners were grouped together. They were pushed into the line, facing a large stone brick with a round indent and a basket pushed up on the other side.

What was this? What was going to happen? Elsie pressed herself to Karin, trying to hold her hand.

That's when Karin noticed a mysterious man, his face wrapped in black cloth, standing in the shadows. He gripped an object in his hands. An axe. Realization dawned on her, and her stomach twisted. This was an execution. They were going to kill all the prisoners.

The first one to go was a Nord man. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees in front of the block. A guard roughly shoved his head down onto the stone and stepped back as the man in black came fourth and raised the axe. In one swift motion, he swung the axe and...

Karin flinched and looked down, the dull thud of the axe meeting flesh and stone making her sick. She reached up, shielding Elsie's eyes from the horrific scene.

"You Murders!" A woman screeched from the line of prisoners. How could this be happening? They shouldn't be here! This was all a mistake!

"You, girl. Come here." As Karin looked up, she felt her blood run cold. The guard next to the block was staring at Elsie, his eyes dark. "Now."

Elsie took a step towards him, but Karin leaped forward. "NO!" Pushing her little sister back, she rushed up to the block. "Please no... Don't take her-"

She was stopped by a loud roar, echoing in the sky. "What in the Divines was that?" A fearful voice shouted. After the noise faded the Captain shook her head. "Get on with it!"

The guard grabbed Karin and threw her to her knees, pushing her to the block. She lowered herself down, resting her head on the bloody stone. She heard a sob behind her, but forced herself not to turn. There was no way she could look at Elsie's face.

The executioner raised the axe and held it above his head, but there was something that caught Karin's eye. A large creature appeared at the mountain tops, swooping down and landing on the building above them. It tossed it's head back and blasted what looked like fire out of it's massive jaws, turning the sky red.

The axe man fell to the ground, releasing the axe from his grasp. Karin, a little dazed from the sudden attack, heaved herself to her feet. Looking around, she noticed the prisoners had scattered. Elsie ran over to her, grabbing her arm.

"Come on!" She shouted, terrified. After a few moments, Karin straightened up and nodded.

"Hey, over here!" Sebastians voice called from a little ways away. Karin grabbed Elsie and turned her around, pushing her to make her run. They ran away from the guards, who had their hands full battling that... thing.

Once they had reached Sebastian, he grabbed them both, his bonds cut, and pulled them into a building. Three other people were in the room, one by the door, who immediatly slammed the door shut when they were in.

"What was that thing?" Elsie asked, looking terrified. A large man spoke up, leaning against the wall, a small battle axe in his hand. Karin recognized him as Gunmund, the man in the carriage with her.

"Dragons..." He growled. "That... was a dragon."


End file.
